Posture Correction: How to Straighten Your Back While Sleeping?

Importance of Sleeping Posture

Maintaining a proper posture is not only important during your day at work, but it’s equally important while you sleep at nights. Poor posture while sleeping can negatively impact your physical and emotional well-being. Not only will it lead to increased tension, but they can lead to a variety of other problems, such as poor circulation, neck pain, emotional tension, and so on.

So, what’s your sleeping position?

Take the time to consider whether or not you are sleeping in the correct position. Assess whether your sleeping position is negatively impacting you. This is an important step each and every one of us should do in order to fight these problems.[1]

Here is how you can straighten your back while sleeping. Keep reading:

Choosing the Right Pillow

The pillows you use while sleeping should be able to support the natural curvature of the neck and keep it in proper alignment with your chest and lower back. At the same time, they should enable you to get comfortable.

However, the specific type of pillows that works best for a person will vary based on a person’s go-to sleeping position. For example, if you have the habit of sleeping on your back, you will require a pillow that is fluffier when compared to someone who sleeps on his/her stomach or side. A fluffier pillow will help prevent the morning back pain. If you find it hard to choose, look at the labels of the pillows while buying because most of them would have information as to what sleeping position they are suitable for.

Do You Know Your Pillow has a Shelf Life?

Well, not just selecting a right pillow for your sleeping position is important, but it’s equally important to replace your pillow often.

So, how often is good when it comes to replacing the pillow?

According to medical experts, we must replace our pillows that we rest our head on at least once a year. But, you don’t have to dispose of your old pillows. You can very well use them to support your other body parts.

Picking the Right Mattress

Much like the pillows, a mattress should also be able to support the natural curvature of your body while also keeping you comfortable.

There’s a general thinking that the people suffering from lower back pain in the mornings must use a firmer mattress. But, this is not correct anymore. A mattress that is soft will be good if a person’s hips are broader than his/her waist as it will allow the spine to stay straight while sleeping. On the other hand, if the hips and waist are already aligned straight, a harder mattress is recommended as it will give more support.

We would advise you to take the time to try out various mattresses to get the perfect one.

Other Considerations

In addition to the important criterion that is discussed above, having the right mattress also involves some other key considerations. They are:

• Age of the mattress
• Temperature management
• Size of the mattress

As with pillows, replacing the mattress once in a while is important. You must replace your mattress at least every 10 years.

Taking care of the Alignment

Keeping the body aligned as we sleep is one of the critical things that we must do to prevent back pain. To put it in specific, the ears, the shoulders, and the hips must be in line when we sleep. However, we must understand that there is not one best sleeping position when it comes to tackling back pain, but it varies from one person to another depending on the source of discomfort and the individual himself/herself.[2]

But, you can straighten your back while sleeping by using pillows or rolled towels as follows:

• Back Sleeper: If a person sleeps on his/her back, a small pillow can be placed at the back of the knees to reduce stress on the spine and to support the natural curvature in the lower back. The pillow for the head will support the head and the natural curvature of the neck and the shoulders.
• Stomach Sleeper: If a person sleeps on his/her stomach, stress will be felt on the spine as it’s out of position. In these people, putting a flat pillow underneath the stomach and pelvic region can help keep the spine in proper alignment. The pillow for the head must be flat or it’s even better if you sleep without a pillow.
• Side Sleeper: If a person sleeps on the side, a rigid pillow must be kept between the knees so as to keep the upper leg from dragging the spine out of position. This will also help reduce the stress on the hips and the lower back. While sleeping, these people should also pull their knees up slightly towards the chest. The pillow for the head should be able to keep the spine straight. Furthermore, a small pillow or a rolled towel underneath the waist will also help support the spine.

Apart from these, feel free to put pillows in any other gap that you can find between your body and mattress. These added supports can help you get out of your bed without any ache in your back.

Use a Posture Corrector Brace for Added Support

Although you can’t expect a long-term relief with a posture corrector brace, wearing one at nights will give you an instant and short-term relief from a sore back. Thus, it will help keep you sleeping at nights. Not only will these posture corrector braces support your lower back, but also they can help keep you from twisting in dangerous ways while you sleep.

It’s highly recommended that you wear a posture corrector brace, especially if the cause of the back pain is an injury. In such cases, the compression and the support that is offered by the brace can help reduce the inflammation and speed up the healing process.

Final Pointers

Not only is it important to keep your posture right at the nights, but it’s equally important to maintain a good posture during the day. Start focusing on sitting and standing up straight with the shoulders, back, and the whole body in proper alignment. For this reason, you can turn to a good quality posture brace to keep you from slouching and/or hunching forward.

References:

1..https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=4460

2..https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/4485-back-health--posture

3..https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/ergonomics/posture-straighten-your-back

4..https://www.wikihow.life/Improve-Posture-While-Sleeping